The Cat's Table
(Book)

In the early 1950's, an eleven-year-old boy in Colombo boards a ship bound for England, At mealtimes he is seated at the "cat's table" - - as far from the Captain's Table as can be -- with a ragtag group of "insignificant" adults and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Seuz Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys tumble from one adventure to another, bursting all over the place like freed mercury. But there are other diversions as well: one man talks with them about jazz and womes, another opens the door to the world of literature. The narrotor's elusive, beautiful cousin Emily becomes his confidante, allowing him to see himself "with a distant eye" for the ifrst time, and to feel the first stirring of desire. Anoter Cat's Table denizen, the shadowy Miss Lasqueti, is perhaps more than what she seems. And very late every night, the boys spy on a shackled prisoner, his crime and his fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever. As the narrative moves between the decks and holds of the ship and the boy's adult years, it tells a spellbinding story - - by turns poingant and electrifying - - about the magical, often forbidden, discoveries of childhood and a lifelong journey that begins unexpectedly with a spectacular sea voyage.